American Snaps #4: Seagull

by awindram

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“I spent a great many Saturday afternoons sitting on T Wharf in Boston listening very carefully to sea gulls, and finally they got through to me, and little by little I learned the sea gull language. I can understand it better than I can speak it, but I can speak it a lot of better than you might think. In fact, I have translated a number of famous American poems into sea gull… Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translates perfectly into sea gull. On the whole, to tell you the truth, I think he sounds better in sea gull than he does in English.”

Joe Gould’s Secret – Joseph Mitchell

I’m aware of the ridiculousness, but no matter where in the world I might be, whenever I come across a seagull I always end up thinking that they are from Hartlepool, too.

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